Mayor Cecil Clarke threatened to adjourn yesterday’s budget consultation meeting in Dominion during a heated exchanged with tax crusader Joe Bushell from Leitches Creek. Bushell got tax documents from the CBRM after a lengthy freedom of information fight, and used the meeting to raise questions about the municipality’s spending. Among the expenses Bushell questioned was more than 81-hundred dollars for men’s and women’s watches. Chief Financial Officer Marie Walsh says the watches cost 150 dollars each and are given to employees when they retire. Bushell went on to say that the municipality is run very poorly while Mayor Clarke responded that he’s confident in the CBRM’s books and asked the province to conduct an audit of its finances. Meanwhile, District 10 Councillor Darrell Flynn told those at yesterday’s meeting that he’s made good on an election promise by asking the Mayor to review the 140 dollar a week travel allowance for councillors.
